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Theological ethics has inadvertently contributed to the diminished autonomy many feel amid the anxieties of daily life. The shift from act-based ethics to totalizing ethics, and Vatican II's universal call to social justice, urged Christians to work for earthly justice without offering tools for assessing one's moral goodness when these projects fail. Virtue ethics that is attentive to moral luck can help combat moral helplessness by observing moral agency in action patterns that shape the self's dispositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic inequality, particularly in the areas of income and wealth, has been steadily expanding in the United States. This reality is an issue for other nations as well. This article examines reasons why economic inequality deserves more attention from moral theologians. It also reviews recent literature on the topic and the need to restore equality of opportunity as a genuine aspect of American life. Keywords economic inequality, income distribution, wealth concentration, social mobility, plutocracy, equal opportunity, Catholic social teaching, relative equality, solidarity, Economic inequality is rising in the United States and across the globe. (1) In 2011, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the top 20 percent of Americans experienced much faster [...]